The Art and Arezzo

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  Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy
Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Ciao!



Well…I have decided to become a wine snob. I will fit it right in between "Carnivale in Venice" and “Shopping in Milan.” I am overcome with possibilities here, simultaneously telling myself “CALM DOWN, you have plenty of time” while secretly knowing that there isn't enough time at all.

Classes start tomorrow and they are both tantalizingly euphoric and intimidating. For those of you who do not know, my program is studying the art of Commedia dell’Arte. It is a type of theatre from the Renaissance, literally means “Comedy of the Artists.” So it is, indeed, comedy, a comedy full of stock characters that create a political and social satire. It was originally performed on the streets of Italy and gave influence to the marvels of Chaplin, Keaton, the Marx Brothers (Harpo, particularly) and the genre - slapstick. Every time somebody gets hit on the butt with a giant wooden stick (it is phallic, my book says so) that comes from Commedia, the form invented the slapstick!

The philosophy preaches that the actor IS the artist. So an actor invents, develops, adapts and builds one character. And the actor plays their character for life. No joke. The Tramp, anyone? They develop the characteristics, the motives, the walk, the movement, the love interest, the voice, the relationship with the audience and (drumroll) the mask. This is the development of masked theatre which later gave rise to mime and clown. So we will be creating, exploring and developing characters which will culminate in the making of our own masks.

Why the mask? You ask. Wouldn’t it prohibit the use of your face and therefore limit your acting? This has been suggested and often it can. However, the mask is not a cage but a tool. The art form teaches you to use the mask, respect the mask and cherish the mask as the whole and complete embodiment of your character. Those of you non-artists thinks this sounds like artist bullshit (yes, I do see how that brushstroke embodies the earth and this one the wind) but I assure you, it is legit. The mask holds the entire essence of your character, and by putting it on you are not trapped by its limitations but transformed by its magic. That is the philosophy of the mask.

And if this is all too artist-y for you (my scientific clan, specifically) then I will tell you something awesome for even left-brainers! Which is that Commedia performances are all improvisation and acrobatics. So really the whole thing is just a circus! Weee!

I thought that maybe the circus stuff would be contained or lessened, due to the fact that we can’t all be gymnasts. It turns out, no. In orientation today I found out that Movement class (a basic class that all actors take…or so I thought) is actually acrobatics. WTF you say!? As did I. However, the MFA students say it’s brilliant because the first week you are thinking “There is no way I will be able to do a handstand” and by the end you are doing flips. WTF!? We say again. I guess we shall see. If anything, it will serve as great videos for my blog.

Also…I am taking clown class! I feel like that is pretty self-explanatory, but equally as exciting.

So far everything is going alright here. I haven’t had much time to go exploring or anything but this weekend will definitely be the start of a grand adventure. The city of Arezzo is surrounded by a giant fortress wall, no joke. So to enter the city you have to walk through the walls. But the city itself is pretty modern in terms of shops and restaurants. So if there is a foreign invasion I am going to run into the city walls and hide in Sephora.

I have tried brief Italian, to no avail, but a few times my Spanish has served me nicely. I had always heard that the languages are close but the Italian girls from the train told me that I could just flat out speak it and Italians could understand mostly everything I was saying. The other night at a restaurant we were trying to find out when it opened (dinner in Italy doesn’t start until 8) and the man finally just asked “habla espanol?” “Me!” They opened at 7:30pm.

So far this is what I know about Italia:

1. Men wear sweaters, button up shirts, nice jeans/slacks and prada shoes.
2. The Pope wears prada shoes.
3. You can order a pizza with hot dogs on it.
4. Italians don’t use dryers. They HAVE dryers, they just don’t use them.
5. It is national law that the heat can only be on for 8 hours a day.
6. All of the lights in hallways have timers.
7. They are a very environmentally conscious people AND they are doing something about it.
8. The gesture where you have your hand in your fist and hold up your index finger and pinky (American: WASSSSSUP) means “Your wife is
cheating on you because you are bad in bed.”
9. There are two levels of boredom and hand gestures to symbolize that. Level 1: I am bored but surviving. Level 2: I want to shoot myself.
10. They don’t believe in speed limits, traffic rules or the 3 second rule (or 2 second, or 1 second).
11. Burlesconi hates women.
12. Stores sporadically open and close, but they are always closed during lunch: from 1-4:30 (lunch can indeed be that long)
13. When workers want a day off, especially transportation workers, they just go on strike. But they will give you two weeks warning first.
14. They really do eat basically just pasta and pizza.
15. I have seen designer coats on dogs. No joke.
16. They put Sephoras inside the fortress walls.

Well this weekend the agenda is Antique Fair, Open Air
Market and Florence. Next weekend? I am thinking Venice.


Ciao! (That means hello AND goodbye)

 

 

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